Floor covering for covering removable floor plates, floor structure with floor covering and method for producing the floor covering

ABSTRACT

A ready-to-lay floor covering having a fixing adhesive uniformly applied on an underside is optionally protected by a backing film.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a floor covering, a floor constructioncomprising removable floor panels covered with the floor covering, andto a method for producing the floor covering.

2. Discussion of the Background

Raised or installation floors are used in order to create a second planethat can support foot traffic or other loads above the subfloor of aroom. Between the building's subfloor or bare floor and this secondplane there is a void space created, which can be used for installationor laying of cables, pipes, air ducts, etc.

The plane for supporting foot traffic or other loads is very generallyconstructed from individual, usually square, support or floor panels.Such support or floor panels are braced relative to the building floorvia a plurality of pedestals or underground structures. They are linedon the upper side with floor-covering tiles, which are fixed to thesupport panels in a slip-proof manner by a fixing adhesive.

In order to permit easy access to the underfloor installation for thepurpose of undertaking maintenance tasks, it must be ensured that thefloor-covering tiles can be removed without problems. It must thereforebe possible to loosen the fixing adhesive easily and without destroyingit. Thus, a permanent bond is not appropriate.

Additional requirements may be imposed on the fixing adhesive, forexample, provision of a conductive layer, in order to prevent leakage ofelectrostatic charges that may build up on the surface or to ensure thatsuch charges are conducted to ground. Further requirements include easeof laying and good stability of the floor-covering tiles againstslipping. For this purpose a coating layer of fixing adhesive, known asa “tackifier”, is commonly applied on the laid base or support panels.An example is Thomsit T425 tackifier of the Henkel Co. orForbo-Antirutsch 541 (Forbo anti-slip compound 541), on which thefloor-covering tiles can be laid without becoming permanently bonded butwithout danger of slipping after a required setting time of about 30 to120 minutes has elapsed. The fixing adhesive is based, for example, onan acrylate dispersion, into which optionally an additional conductiveadditive has been intermixed to ensure the desired conductivity. Theacrylate dispersion is preferably an aqueous dispersion.

The problems which commonly occur during the laying of floor coveringsdescribed in the foregoing can be explained by referring to FIG. 1,which shows a schematic overhead view of a raised floor. It is evidentthat no adhesive is applied in the region of the joints (gap A inFIG. 1) between the support panels. As can be inferred from FIG. 1, itis only in this way that bonding of the support panels to one anothercan be avoided and the necessary easy access to the underfloor regioncan be ensured. In summary, the installation of such a floor islaborious, time-consuming and mistake-prone.

Once the base construction containing the floor panels has been laid,the fixing adhesive must be applied. In this process, care must be takenthat, if at all possible, no adhesive is applied in the region of theabutting joints. On the other hand, sufficient adhesive must be appliedin the region of the corners of the base panels, as shown in FIG. 1, inorder to fix the floor-covering tiles adequately and to provide acontinuous layer.

Thereafter, the applied coating layer of fixing adhesive must behardened or set. During this period, further processing is not possible.The necessary hardening time depends on ambient conditions such asatmospheric humidity, temperature, surface of the floor panels, etc. andis therefore difficult to determine. Thus, an unnecessary waste of timecan result if the adhesive has already set, or—which is a much worseproblem—the floor-covering tiles have become undesirably bonded to thesupport panels of the floor, so that the floor-covering tiles can nolonger be lifted up without damaging them.

Finally, the floor-covering tiles must be laid without destroying thefixing adhesive layer, for example, by excessive foot traffic. Thus, thefloor-covering tiles must be laid on the slip-proof adhesive, which canbe achieved with the skill of a craftsman.

Because of the difficulties outlined in the foregoing, the entire layingprocess must therefore be performed manually by appropriately trained,skilled craftsmen, thus leading to high costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an appropriatelypretreated floor covering, that allows the floor-covering layingprocedure to be streamlined by eliminating the time-consuming andmistake-prone process step of manually applying the adhesive ortackifier. The process should be performed externally and in advance bymachinery, so that the floor can be installed inexpensively andprecisely, even by less well trained personnel.

This and other objects have been achieved by the present invention thefirst embodiment of which includes a floor covering, comprising:

-   -   a non-conductive fixing adhesive uniformly applied on an        underside of said floor covering;    -   wherein said non-conductive fixing adhesive has been air-cured        to obtain a ready-to-lay floor covering.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a floorconstruction, comprising:

-   -   a floor covering as described above laid on a layer of floor        panels laid flush with one another.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method forproduction of a floor covering, comprising:

-   -   applying a non-conductive fixing adhesive onto a floor covering,        to obtain a floor covering having said non-conductive fixing        adhesive on at least one side;    -   air-curing said floor covering having said non-conductive fixing        adhesive, to obtain an air-cured floor covering;    -   wherein an air-curing time is chosen such that a cohesion of        said at least one side of said air-cured floor covering having        said non-conductive fixing adhesive is stronger than a force of        adhesion to a backing film subsequently applied.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a raised floor,a wooden floor or a bare floor, covered with a floor coveringcomprising:

-   -   a conductive or a non-conductive fixing adhesive uniformly        applied on an underside of said floor covering;    -   wherein said conductive or non-conductive fixing adhesive has        been air-cured to obtain a ready-to-lay floor covering.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method forapplication of a fixing adhesive to a floor covering, comprising:

-   -   applying a first latex treatment on a back side of said floor        covering, to obtain a first latex layer;    -   drying said first latex layer, to obtain a dried first latex        layer;    -   applying a fixing adhesive;    -   drying said fixing adhesive, to obtain a dried fixing adhesive,        with the proviso that said dried fixing adhesive remains elastic        and tacky;    -   optionally attaching a protective backing film to said dried        fixing adhesive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic overhead view of a conventional raised floorduring the laying operation.

FIG. 2 a shows a sectional side view of a conventional raised floor withapplied fixing adhesive, but without floor covering.

FIG. 2 b shows a sectional side view of a raised floor according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional side view of a floor covering according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a floor-covering roll according tothe present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of a raised floor according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A floor covering is pretreated according to the present invention byapplying a fixing adhesive on its underside to obtain a ready-to-layfloor covering. This makes it is possible to achieve a considerableincrease in efficiency during installation of the floor covering or thefloor construction according to the present invention.

The fixing adhesive used in the present invention can be any adhesivethat does not bond to the underground on which the floor covering islaid. Preferably, the fixing adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesiveor repositionable adhesive. Even more preferably, the fixing adhesive isbased on an acrylate dispersion. Optionally, the fixing adhesive can beconductive or antistatic. A coating layer of the fixing adhesive isapplied on the floor covering such that the floor covering can be laidwithout the development of forces of cohesion and without bonding. Thus,the fixing adhesive functions as an adhesive without establishing anundestroyable connection with the underground. As a result, the fixingadhesive can be easily detached from the floor covering and can bereused. Preferably, the fixing adhesive does not dry and/or cure as aconventional adhesive and remains elastic and/or somewhat tacky.Preferably, a backing film is applied on the fixing adhesive coatinglayer to separate the opposite sites of the floor covering afterfinishing the floor covering, during rolling up the floor covering inthe factory, during the transport to the site of use and/or duringinstallation. As a consequence, even microscopic parts of the adhesiveare prevented from attaching to the upper surface of the floor covering.However, in one embodiment, the adhesive coating layer may be protectedby a backing film, so that excessive drying out of the fixing adhesiveis prevented and, if required, the adhesive effect is preserved untilthe floor-covering tiles have been laid.

Preferably, the opposite sites of the floor covering do not attach toeach other in the rolled-up condition to provide for easy rolling-off.

In the known processes, conductive or non-conductive pressure-sensitiveadhesives have been applied on the bare floor, such as a concrete orplaster floor, a wooden floor or a false floor. After a preliminarydrying time of about 10 to 20 minutes, the covering is inlaid in thepressure-sensitive or repositionable adhesive. According to the presentinvention, the fixing adhesive can be applied during a continuous orbatchwise manufacturing process of a floor covering. The fixing adhesiveis preferably applied to one side of the floor covering, but can beapplied to both sides. Preferably, the fixing adhesive can be appliedafter a first latex application during the production of textile floorcoverings, such as suede, leather, polymeric fiber containing floorcovering and natural fiber containing floor coverings. More preferably,the fixing adhesive may be applied to hard coverings, such as, PVC,linoleum and cork. In addition, the fixing adhesive may be applied tofloor coverings which are stored as rolls for application on naturalstone, cement, wooden floors or floors comprising a synthetic material.Natural stone includes granite and marble floors. Even more preferably,bare floors, such as concrete or plaster floors are used.

In one preferred embodiment the fixing adhesive is applied as a thinfilm on the floor by means of a lambskin roller. Within 10 to 20minutes, the pressure-sensitive adhesive dries and the solvent, forexample water, evaporates. Preferably, the composition of the adhesiveis such that the fixing adhesive does not dry out completely and remainselastic and tacky.

The solvent may be removed from the fixing adhesive by any method. Quickremoval of the solvent by irradiation with IR or UV light is preferred.Removal of the solvent with a drying device, such as a fan isparticularly preferred. However, as indicated above, removal of thesolvent does not result in complete drying of the fixing adhesive. Forexample, a commercially available fixing adhesive is applied in a liquidand highly viscous state (i.e. having a viscosity similar to that ofhoney) to the floor covering. The content of water evaporates and afixing adhesive layer which is not entirely dry remains. Thus, thefixing adhesive remains elastic and tacky.

Preferably, the subfloor (concrete, floor topping, raised floor, etc.)is a finish-machined surface. Raised-floor panels are ground on the topside, and other subfloors are also ground or smoothed after installationand drying. If this were not the case, the roughnesses/raised areas onthe subsequently laid floor covering would stand out and become visible.that have not been coated/primed.

In the floor covering, the development of electrostatic charges due tofriction on the floor acting as an insulating layer should be preventedor compensated by grounding via the floor. This can be achieved in asimple manner by using a tackifier with antistatic effect, obtained froman acrylate dispersion having an electrically conductive additive. Asatisfactory antistatic effect is achieved if, for example, carbon, forexample, in the form of carbon black, is mixed as an electricallyconductive additive in a proportion of up to 25% by weight in theadhesive based on an acrylate dispersion. Other substances or substancemixtures having the desired adhesive and/or antistatic properties can beused in the scope of the present invention. In general, the amount oftack reducing additive is up to 25% and includes all values andsubvalues between 0 and 25% by weight, especially including 5, 10, 15,20, and 25% by weight.

In the residential sector, a non-conductive pressure-sensitive adhesiveis preferred. These types of pressure-sensitive adhesive have high tack,resulting in the danger that prolonged, intensive traffic on thecovering may increase the adhesion to the base layer so much that it canbe regarded as bonded. However, such bonding is undesirable because thecoverings should be easily removable for replacement purposes,

One way to reduce the tack of the pressure sensitive adhesive is toinclude up to about 35% by weight of a tack reducing additive such ascarbon powder. The amount of tack reducing additive includes all valuesand subvalues between 0 and 35% by weight, especially including 5, 10,15, 20, 25 and 30% by weight. The tack is reduced to the point that thecovering or floor tiles can be removed without problems. Depending onthe added quantity of carbon powder, the fixing adhesive may becomeconductive, and at the same time it loses tack. On the other hand, for anon-conductive fixing adhesive, organic or inorganic fillers, preferablychalk are added to the pressure-sensitive adhesive to reduce tact. Theamount of organic or inorganic fillers for tack reduction is up to 35%by weight based on the weight of the pressure sensitive adhesive, andincludes all values and subvalues between 0 and 35% by weight,especially including 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% by weight. Both, theconductive or non-conductive fixing adhesive may contain an organic orinorganic filler.

Another advantage of the present invention is achieved when retrofitoperations are undertaken in the floor under the floor panels, such asthe laying of cable runs. In this case, the floor covering must belifted off and the floor-covering panels removed and stacked off to theside. Heretofore, the electricians have usually walked on the bare floorwhile performing laying tasks, thus inevitably picking up dust on thesoles of their shoes and tracking it onto the exposed adhesive surfacewhen they step out of the duct. This problem is effectively eliminatedwith the structure of the floor covering of the present invention.According to the present invention, the floor panels are no longertreated with adhesive, they can be simply vacuumed on completion of theretrofit or modification tasks. The undamaged floor covering, forexample, in the form of covering tiles with underside coating, can berelaid without impairment of their function.

Finally, a further advantage of the present invention becomes clear whenthe floor covering has to be replaced. Because the floor covering is notpermanently bonded to the base course, such as floor topping, no part ofthe base course is torn up during replacement of the covering, and sothere is effectively no need for troweling work. Furthermore, noresidual adhesives, which heretofore had to be ground off, are leftthere. This opens up the opportunity to use the technique according tothe present invention with all its advantages even when floor coveringssold by the meter are being laid.

Furthermore, the floor covering according to the present invention canbe produced by a simple method. The environmental parameters areadjustable, and the setting time of the applied tackifier coating layercan be precisely maintained and its thickness can be kept constant atthe optimal value, so that the desired functionality of the adhesivecoating layer as a tackifier but not as a bonding agent is achieved withgreat reliability. The method can also be performed as a continuousprocess, thus allowing further cost reductions to be achieved.

The floor covering according to the present invention offers the furtheradvantage that, when packaged in the form of rolls, it is suitable bothfor direct laying in hand-cut sections and as a commercial precursorproduct, which can be the starting material for other commercialproducts in the form of variously sized floor-covering tiles, withoutthe need for changeover times on appropriate machines during itsproduction. Thus, from the floor covering, which can also be sold by themeter, ready-to-lay floor-covering tiles can be produced by a singleoperation, in which the floor covering is divided in a manner to beadjusted to the desired tile size, or floor-covering tiles are stampedout from the floor covering.

Furthermore, there is no longer any need to take special care with thebutt joints of the floor layout or of the laid floor panels duringlaying of the inventive floor covering or floor-covering tiles, sincethe adhesive or tackifier is largely hardened or set. The risk ofbonding of the base panels of the floor to one another is thereforeeffectively ruled out, and the function of a floor construction of thepresent invention, especially of a raised floor, in order to provide aninstallation space that is rapidly accessible but concealed from view,can be achieved with great reliability and little time expenditure.

Furthermore, better adhesion of the floor covering to the floor panelsis also achieved in this way, since the floor covering is uniformlycoated with tackifier. Thus, adhesion of the floor covering to the floorpanels is ensured, even in the regions of the butt joints of the basepanels, without the risk that the floor panels will become bonded to oneanother, since the fixing adhesive has already set by the time of thelaying operation.

Particularly good adhesion is achieved when the floor covering is laidin such a way that it overlaps the butt joints of the base panels. Thisis achieved in a particularly simple way when its size is different fromthat of the floor panels.

The fixing-adhesive coating layer continues to adhere to the floorcovering and is not transferred to the floor panels when the floorcovering is lifted up to gain access to the underfloor. Specifically,the fixing adhesive coating layer bonds to the floor covering during theproduction according to the present invention and must have a naturalcohesion that is stronger than the force of adhesion between theadhesive coating layer and the floor panels.

This can be accompanied by measures such as provision of a smoothsurface or of an appropriate upper-side coating or of impregnation ofthe floor panels.

The individual features of the above embodiments can be combined asdesired if it seems technically practical.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in moredetail hereinafter with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic overhead view of a conventional raised floorduring the laying operation. The procedure for laying of conventionalfloor-covering tiles on a floor panel forming a raised-floor plane isevident in FIG. 1. A coating layer of fixing adhesive is applied onfloor panels disposed flush with one another along corresponding buttjoints 3 and resting via their respective corners on one quarter of thesurface of round pedestal heads. Region A along butt joints 3 is leftclear, but fixing adhesive is again applied at the corners of thepanels. Some floor-covering tiles that have already been laid areindicated by hatched areas.

FIG. 2 a shows a section of a conventional raised floor while thetackifier is setting. A pedestal head 4 is seated on a pedestal 5. Floorpanels 1 rest via their respective corners on pedestal head 4. Betweenpanels 1 there are disposed joints 3, in the area of which (see gap A)no adhesive 2 is applied, in contrast to the rest of the upper side ofthe floor panels. After hardening or setting of the adhesive,conventional floor-covering tiles can be applied thereon.

In contrast to this, in the section of a raised floor according to thepresent invention shown in FIG. 2 b, floor covering 6 with fixingadhesive 2 applied on its underside is already laid on floor panels 1,and so joints 3 are also overlapped with adhesive coating layer 2. Thefloor panels are braced via pedestal heads 4, to the underside of whichthere are joined pedestals 5. In this way, a rapidly accessible clearvoid space for ventilation shafts, network installations, etc. isprovided underneath the floor panels.

Floor covering 6 is used as covering for the floor panels as illustratedin FIG. 3. Floor covering 6 has a continuously applied adhesive coatinglayer 2 protected by a film 7 that can be easily peeled off.

FIG. 4 shows a floor covering 6 rolled up as a roll 6 b ready forretail. Floor-covering tiles 6 a to be punched out are also indicated bybroken lines on a portion that has now been unrolled.

FIG. 5 shows a raised floor installed using floor-covering tiles 6 b(indicated by dot-dash lines) according to the present invention forcomparison with the conventionally laid raised floor shown in overheadview in FIG. 1. The pedestal heads denoted by 4 support floor panels 1,on which there are fixed floor-covering tiles 6 b with fixing adhesive 2applied flatly on the underside thereof (see FIGS. 2 b, 3). Aventilation shaft 11 is shown by broken lines. This ventilation shaftruns in the void space between the plane of the floor panels and theplane of the base floor (such as the concrete slab) and is supposed tobe kept accessible. It is also evident that floor-covering tiles 6 bhave a size which is different from (larger than) that of floor panels1, thus largely ensuring that joints 3 between floor-covering panels 1are overlapped by floor-covering tiles 6 a.

From the foregoing description it follows that the floor covering, suchas the floor-covering tiles, does not have to be cut to match thepattern in which the floor panels are laid. In other words, the patternof the raised-floor panels can be, but is not required to be, identicalto that of the coated floor-covering tiles.

Furthermore, the present invention allows the manufacture of floorcoverings and their laying with pressure-sensitive adhesives. A numberof advantages can be realized with floor coverings such as PVC,linoleum, tufted tile covering, velour covering.

The back side of velour coverings used, for example, for the residentialsector, is produced as follows: a first latex treatment is applied on afoamed back side and dried. Then, a jute or synthetic fabric is attachedby rolling, followed by a second latex treatment and drying. Accordingto the present invention, the liquid pressure-sensitive adhesive isapplied immediately after the application and drying step of the firstlatex treatment. After drying, a protective backing film is attached toprevent detached spots of pressure-sensitive adhesive from coming intocontact with the velour surface, for example, when the covering isrolled up. The velour covering can then be trimmed laterally to finishedsize, at which point it is ready to be rolled up for shipping.

The process according to the present invention can take advantage ofexisting production facilities because the fixing adhesive is appliedand drying, for example, UV drying, takes place immediately after thefirst latex treatment has been applied and dried. To ensure that noparticles of pressure-sensitive adhesive are found on the finishedcarpet surface during the rolling-up step, and to prevent adhesion tothe finished top side of the covering, a film coating (separating layer)is applied. This has nothing to do with further drying out of the fixingadhesive, since the fixing adhesive is durably elastic and tacky.

In principle, PVC covering has no coating on the back side. The coatingof pressure-sensitive adhesive is therefore preferably applied duringthe manufacturing process.

In the case of PVC, linoleum, cork, etc., precoating may not benecessary. The adhesive can be applied directly onto the back side anddried by UV drying, for example. A film coating is preferred, to ensurethat no particles of pressure-sensitive adhesive are found on thefinished floor covering during the rolling-up and to ensure that thecovering does not cling together when the covering is rolled up or whensubsequently cut tiles are stacked.

In conventional linoleum floor coverings, a jute fabric is inlaid intothe back side during the final production cycle. However, if thelinoleum is treated with the pressure-sensitive adhesive according tothe present invention, it is no longer necessary to include a jutefabric layer during the manufacturing process.

Depending on the viscosity of the pressure-sensitive adhesive, anintermediate coating may be applied to a tufted tile covering, so thatthe pressure-sensitive adhesive, while still in fluid condition, doesnot penetrate into the floor covering. On the other hand, immediateinfrared drying can be performed during application of thepressure-sensitive adhesive at the manufacturer's factory.

In the case of tufted tile coverings, a preliminary latex treatment maybe beneficial, since latex is very highly viscous and inexpensive, anddries rapidly and easily. A directly applied fixing adhesive wouldpenetrate immediately into the rough back side of the covering and wouldact as a sealing/impregnation agent in the case of base courses. Asecond or even third coating of fixing adhesive would then have to beapplied in order to obtain a continuous coating of pressure-sensitiveadhesive on the back side of the covering. For this type of covering,however, it is also possible to apply other precoatings, which smoothout the back side of the covering and preclude immediate penetration ofthe fluid fixing adhesive.

Having generally described this invention, a further understanding canbe obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are providedherein for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended to belimiting unless otherwise specified.

1. A floor covering, comprising: a non-conductive fixing adhesiveuniformly applied on an underside of said floor covering; wherein saidnon-conductive fixing adhesive has been air-cured to obtain aready-to-lay floor covering.
 2. The floor covering according to claim 1,wherein an acrylate dispersion is used as said non-conductive fixingadhesive.
 3. The floor covering according to claim 1, which is in theform of a floor-covering roll.
 4. The floor covering according to claim1, which is in the form of floor-covering tiles.
 5. The floor coveringaccording to claim 1, wherein said non-conductive fixing adhesive isprotected by a backing film.
 6. The floor covering according to claim 1,wherein said non-conductive fixing adhesive comprises an organic orinorganic filler.
 7. The floor covering according to claim 1, whereinsaid non-conductive fixing adhesive comprises chalk.
 8. The floorcovering according to claim 1, which is selected from the groupconsisting of PVC, linoleum, a tufted tile and velour.
 9. A floorconstruction, comprising: a floor covering according to claim 1 laid ona layer of floor panels laid flush with one another.
 10. The floorconstruction according to claim 9, wherein said floor covering overlapsbutt joints between said floor panels.
 11. The floor constructionaccording to claim 9, wherein said floor covering is in the form offloor-covering tiles; and wherein said the floor covering tiles have asize different from that of said floor panels.
 12. The floorconstruction according to claim 9, wherein an adhesion of saidnon-conductive fixing adhesive to said floor covering is stronger thanthe adhesion to said floor panels.
 13. The floor construction accordingto claim 9, wherein said floor panels are finished with a smooth surfaceon an upper side.
 14. The floor construction according to claim 9,wherein said floor panels are finished with a smooth coating on an upperside.
 15. The floor construction according to claim 9, wherein saidfloor panels are finished with an impregnation on an upper side.
 16. Amethod for production of a floor covering, comprising: applying anon-conductive fixing adhesive onto a floor covering, to obtain a floorcovering having said non-conductive fixing adhesive on at least oneside; air-curing said floor covering having said non-conductive fixingadhesive, to obtain an air-cured floor covering; wherein an air-curingtime is chosen such that a cohesion of said at least one side of saidair-cured floor covering having said non-conductive fixing adhesive isstronger than a force of adhesion to a backing film subsequentlyapplied.
 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein said backing filmcan be peeled off without residue.
 18. The method according to claim 16,further comprising: rolling up said floor covering and packaging asfloor-covering rolls.
 19. The method according to claim 16, furthercomprising: punching floor-covering tiles out of the floor covering. 20.A floor covering produced according to the method of claim
 16. 21. Araised floor, a wooden floor or a bare floor, covered with a floorcovering comprising: a conductive or a non-conductive fixing adhesiveuniformly applied on an underside of said floor covering; wherein saidconductive or non-conductive fixing adhesive has been air-cured toobtain a ready-to-lay floor covering.
 22. The raised floor, wooden flooror bare floor according to claim 21, wherein said floor covering isselected from the group consisting of PVC, linoleum, tufted tiles,velour and combinations thereof.
 23. The raised floor, wooden floor orbare floor according to claim 21, wherein an acrylate dispersion is usedas said conductive or non-conductive fixing adhesive.
 24. The raisedfloor, wooden floor or bare floor according to claim 21, wherein saidfloor covering is in the form of floor-covering tiles.
 25. The raisedfloor, wooden floor or bare floor according to claim 21, wherein saidconductive or non-conductive fixing adhesive comprises an organic orinorganic filler.
 26. The raised floor, wooden floor or bare flooraccording to claim 21, wherein said non-conductive fixing adhesivecomprises chalk.
 27. A method for application of a fixing adhesive to afloor covering, comprising: applying a first latex treatment on a backside of said floor covering, to obtain a first latex layer; drying saidfirst latex layer, to obtain a dried first latex layer; applying afixing adhesive; drying said fixing adhesive, to obtain a dried fixingadhesive, with the proviso that said dried fixing adhesive remainselastic and tacky; optionally attaching a protective backing film tosaid dried fixing adhesive.
 28. The method according to claim 27,wherein said floor covering is a velour covering.
 29. The methodaccording to claim 28, further comprising trimming said velour coveringto size and rolling up said velour covering.
 30. The method according toclaim 27, wherein said fixing adhesive is a pressure-sensitive adhesive.31. The method according to claim 27, wherein said floor covering is atufted tile covering.
 32. The method according to claim 31, furthercomprising applying an intermediate coating may be applied to saidtufted tile covering before applying said fixing adhesive.
 33. Themethod according to claim 27, wherein said fixing adhesive is applied inmore than one coating.
 34. The method according to claim 27, whereinsaid fixing adhesive is a conductive or a non-conductive fixingadhesive.
 35. A method for application of a fixing adhesive to a floorcovering, comprising: applying a fixing adhesive; drying said fixingadhesive, to obtain a dried fixing adhesive, with the proviso that saiddried fixing adhesive remains elastic and tacky; optionally attaching aprotective backing film to said dried fixing adhesive.
 36. The methodaccording to claim 35, wherein said fixing adhesive is apressure-sensitive adhesive.
 37. The method according to claim 35,wherein said fixing adhesive is applied in more than one coating. 38.The method according to claim 35, wherein said fixing adhesive is aconductive or a non-conductive fixing adhesive.
 39. The method accordingto claim 35, wherein said floor covering is a PVC covering.
 40. Themethod according to claim 35, wherein said floor covering is a linoleumcovering.
 41. The method according to claim 40, wherein said linoleumdoes not comprise a jute fabric.